Car roof



June 18, 1929.

c. D. BoNsALl.

Patented June 18, 1929.

k*UNIT-ao*"STATlazs PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES DAVID PoNsALL,OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNoR 'Io P. II. MURPHY COMPANY, 'OPNEW KENSINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

" CAR ROOF.

Application. mea May 4, 192,7. serieu No'. 188,670.

This invention,irelatesrsi` tocar roofs of the all-steel typewhereinmetal roof sheets extend from side to sideof the car and are se-A cured to veachother and to the car sub-structure to form a loady sustaining structure.

` One of the principalobjects ofthe present invention is to produce a roofof the above type whose sheets have portions that cooperate with the carlinesto A,increase the load carrying capacity of the roof and are adapt'- ed to flexor bend vrelativeto each other and to saidcarlinesto enable theroof rsheets to accommodate themselves to the distortions of the car which occur, inservice. 1 Other obj ectsk are simplicity, durability and cheapness of construction. i l.

The invention'consists principally in providing adjacent margins'oflthe roof sheets with hollowribs which snugly embrace each other and. the. c arlines and havetheir` tops permanently secured together and n to the ,tops of the carlines and their side walls-left free relative to each other andto said .Car-j lines. The inventionjalsoconsists in the parts and in the arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter'.` described, and claimed. .A l. l 'f t In the accompanying drawing, which formsl part of thisspecilication and wherein like symbols refer to likeparts wherever they occur, A Fig. l is a plan view ofa portion of a 'car roof embodying` my invention; j

Fig. 2 is a Vvertical transversev section through half'of the roof onthe line 22 in L .'i Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-section through voneof the roof seams von the line 3 3 in Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is a similar cross-section through the seam at the ridge on the line 4 4: In Fig. 2. n

Referring to the accompanying drawing, my invention is shown in connection with a car roof having` a substructure or frame comprising Z-bar side plates 5 connected by carlines 6 of substantially inverted channelshaped section. As shown in the drawing, the side walls ofthe carlines diverge from top to bottom and are provided at their lower'edges with outstanding base flanges 7. The Z-bar side plates 5 are preferably arranged with their webs horizontal and with one flange projecting upwardly. The kcarlines are secured to the upstanding inner flanges ofthe side plates by means of suitable carline brackets in the form of angles 8 having depending flanges overlapping the upstanding flanges of the side vplates and riveted or otherwise rigidly secured thereto and inwardly projecting horizontal flanges upon which the ends of the carlines are supported. As shownv in the drawing,I the ends of the carlines are curved downwardly at the eaves;and the surplus metal resulting from said downwardly curved ends of said carlines is utilized in widening the end portions of the base flanges 7 which are riveted or otherwise rigidly secured flatwise to the horizontal top flanges of the carline brackets 8. Metal roof sheets 9 extend from eaves to eaves of the car and are provided along their adjacent side margins with hollow upstanding ribs l0. whose crossfsectional shape cor# responds to the cross-sectional shape of the inverted channel-shaped carlines G. The

ribs at the adjacent margins of the sheets fityone over the other and over the carlines and are of such. dimensions that they snugly .portedonrthe tops of wooden filler blocks ll which rest on the horizontal webs of the Z-bar side plates 5 and are rigidly secured to the outer vfaces of the upstanding flanges thereof. The roof sheets are preferably provided with depending eaves flanges -12 which overhang the outer `faces of the woodenk filler .blocks l1. The eaves end portions of the overlapped side marginal ribs l() of the roof sheets are curved downwardly and merge into the plane of the body portions of the sheets where the sheets are turned down to form the depending eaves flanges 12; and the lateral base flanges l0a that appear at the lower edges of the eaves end portion of the outer wall of the ribs l() is the surplus of metal resulting from the down-' of the car at the ridge and are preferably supported on and rigidly secured to the top flanges of Z-shaped running board saddles 15, whose bottom i'ianges are supported on the flat-tops of the ribs 1() and are rigidily secured in position by the securing rivets 13 therefor.

By the arrangement described, the tops of the overlapped marginal ribs of adjacent roof sheets are rigidly secured flatwise to each other and to the tops of the carlines 6 and thus cooperate with the carlines in increasing the load carrying capacit-y of the roof, while the side walls of the overlapped ribs are free to move towards and away from each other and from the side walls ofthe carlines and thus enable the portions of the sheets located between the carlines to accommodate themselves` to the distortions of the car frame.

An important advantage of the foregoing arrangement is that it eliminates the use of detachable members for securing the lapped ribs to the carlines, which members are objectionable because they are liable to work loose; and it also eliminates the use of sep arate fastening members which serve to clamp theside walls of the ribs to the carlines and thus causes the sheets to tear when the car frame distorts. It is noted as an important advantage of my invention that the hollow ribs are permanently secured to the carlines by rivets which are driven hot, which operation causes the galvanizing to How and form a weather-proof seal between the ribs and the heads of the securing rivets.

Vhat I claim is:

1. A car roof comprising side plates connected by carlines of substantially inverted channel-shaped section, and roof sheets eX- tending from side plate to side plate and rigidly secured thereto, said roof sheets being provided along their adjacent margins with hollow ribs which embrace each other and the inverted channel-shaped carlines, the tops of said ribs being rigidly riveted together and to the tops of said carlines and the sides of said ribs being left free.

2. A car roof comprising side plates connected by carlines of substantially inverted channel-shaped section,kand roof sheets extending -froin side plate to side plate and rigidlyseeured thereto, said roof sheets be ing --provided along ytheir ladjacent margins with hollewri-bs which embrace each other and the inverted channel-shaped carlines,

vthe tops of said ribs being rigidly secured by hot driven rivet-s together and to the to s of said carlines and the sides of said ri s being free to yield relative to each other and to the sidesof said car-lines.

`3. A car roofcomprising side plates 'connected Aby carlines of y substantially inverted channel-shaped section and roof sheets extending from side plate to side plate and rigidly secured thereto, said roof sheets being provided alongtheir adjacent margins with hollow flat-topped ribs adapted -to snugly embrace each other and the inverted channelshaped carlines,-the tops o f said ribs being rigidlyriveted together an'dto the'tops of the carlines -fla-twise and' the sides of said ribsbeing free to-yield relative to each other' and to the sides of said carlines. Y

4. A car roofcomprising side plates connected by carlines of substantially inverted channelfshaped section Ahaving outstanding base flanges at the'lower edges of their side walls, and roofsheets extending from side plate to side-plate and rigidly secured thereto, said roofY sheetsbeing arranged with their body portions between 'adjacent carlines and supported on the base flanges thereof, said roof sheets having fiat-topped ribs along their adjacent margins adapted to-embrace each other and the inverted channel-shaped carlines, the tops of said ribs being permanently riveted-together and A to the tops of said car lines flatwise, whereby said ribs-are adapted lto cooperate with said carlines in supporting the vertical roof load, vand the sides of lsaid ribs being free to yield relative to each other and to the sides of the carlines in response to distortions of the car frame.

Signed at New Kensington, Pennsylvania,

this 29th dayof April, 1927. j CHARLES DAVID lfoiasALL. 

